In 2009, nearly a dozen cell phones built by major manufacturers like Motorola (News - Alert) and Samsung featuring Google Android’s platform launched with major U.S. carriers.  

 

And now, come 2010, Google is reportedly planning to jump right into that market with one of its own – an Android (News - Alert) phone called “Nexus One.”

 

Unnamed sources reportedly told the Wall Street Journal that Google (News - Alert) will follow the European model of letting consumers choose their phone first and then their carrier when it launches this new device.  

 

Sources reportedly told the Journal that Nexus One features a touch screen, like the iPhone, with a few buttons along the bottom. It’s reportedly being manufactured by HTC, which also built T-Mobile’s (News - Alert) G1 Android phone. Additionally, Google also designed the entire software experience behind the phone, from applications to the look and feel of each screen.

 

It remains to be seen the extent that Google’s Nexus One present formidable competition to Apple’s (News - Alert) iPhone. Until now, the biggest competitors to the iPhone have been those handsets that run off the Android OS and share the iPhone’s strengths, like the Motorola DROID, which launched in November.

 

Google, which reportedly gave the new touchscreen Android phone to employees to test last week, is looking to market the phone directly to consumers first. Once a consumer buys they phone, they would sign up for service with the carrier of their choice.

 

The introduction of a Google phone — manufactured to its hardware and software specifications by an Asian maker of handsets — would be an important and risky departure for Google, the New York Times reported, noting that until now, Google made software to power cell phones that are built and marketed by partners.

 

Google told TMCnet it is not saying anything further than what’s included in a recent blog posting, “An Android dogfood diet for the holidays,” and is not sharing any photos.

 

The post hinted at a new Android device, but stopped short of calling it “Nexus One” or giving any details as to its launch.

 

“We recently came up with the concept of a mobile lab, which is a device that combines innovative hardware from a partner with software that runs on Android to experiment with new mobile features and capabilities,” the blog, posted by Mario Queiroz, vice president of product management at Google, stated. “We shared this device with Google employees across the globe. This means they get to test out a new technology and help improve it.”